Forfeiture right to counsel bill dies
12/18/2025, Massachusetts, Legislation, Forfeiture (incomplete)
The Massachusetts Senate introduced a bill in 2026 that would have provided counsel to certain forfeiture defendants.
SB 1049 provided, “A criminal defendant represented by public counsel in any criminal trial related to the violation of this chapter shall be entitled to continued public counsel representation at the hearing on the petition to order a forfeiture. A property owner who is not a criminal defendant shall be entitled to public counsel to the extent that individual satisfies the requirements for indigency under section 2 of chapter 211D.”
Unfortunately, the bill was replaced by SB 2886, a study order bill. Thus, it is essentially dead.
Bill Status: Dead
Last action (on 12/18/2025): Accompanied a study order (under JR10), see S2886
